Machinery foe manufacturing felted and napped fabrics



(No Model.)

. 2 sheets-slim 1..` J. BROADHEAD. MAGEINBRY POR MANUFACTURING FBLTBD AND NAPPBD FABRICS.

Patnted Dec. 28,1886.,

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8.8808888181), y MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING F-ELTBD AND NAPPEDFAB'RIGS.

No. 855,180. Patented Deo. 28, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT GEEICE.

JAMEs EEOADHEAD, oE coENwALL, NEW YORK, Assreuon To MARY BRQADHEAD, oF sAME PLAGE.

MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING FELTED AND NAFPED FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 355,130, dated December 28, 1886.

Application filed August 14, 1886. Serial No. 210,890. (No model.) Patented in England March 5. 1885, No. 2,922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES BEOADHEAD, of Cornwall,Y in the county of Orange and State of New York, United States of America, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Machinery for Manufacturing Felted and Napped Fabrics 5 and the following is declared to be a description of the same.

Letters Patent for this invention were duly granted to me in Great Britain under date of March 5, 1885, No. 2,922.

' The object of my invention is to provide an improved machine or apparatus by means of which wool or other ber, without its being made into yarn, can be incorporated with a fabric made from jute, cotton, or other material so as to vform virtually part thereof and give the appearance and in great measure the utility of woolen goods made in the ordinary way.

According to my invention'tI provide means whereby the fabric to lbe treated is conveyed by carriers so as to impart the requisite ten. sion thereto in proximity to aseries of needles or pinchers, and upon this fabric loose wool or other ber is placed, it preferably being led in as a continuous layer or bat upon and along with the cloth.

The frame carrying the needles has a reciprocating up-and-down and side-to-side movement imparted to it, so that the needles penetrate a great numberof times but at different places through the layer of wool or other ber and the fabric beneath, the said needles being of such a constrnction,as hereinafter eX- plained, that they take down at each down- 'ward movement some of the wool/en or other bers, so that they are passed partly through the fabric beneath, of which they then form part, the ends of the bers projecting from each side of the fabric, whereby when the fabric is completed a cloth having the appearance of a good woolen cloth is produced. The

lhead carrying the needles is preferably operated to and fro laterally by a cam with a number of throws, preferably three, so that the said needles penetrate the cloth a great number of times in lines that are not parallel to the edges and give a very complete incorporation of the wool bers with the cloth. The needles are made in such a manner that they effectually take down the bers into the fabric, but on their return movement they do not disengage the bers so taken down into the fabric. This I effect by making the body of theneedle triangular in cross-section. and by cutting out of the angular edges notches, so as to form ledges or barbs, (preferably three at each angle,) and pointing downward toward the point of the needle. These ledges or barbs engage with the bers and carry them 'into the fabric as the needles penetrate it; but on the re" turn motion the bers are not acted upon by the ledges or barbs, they having on their opposite partsinclined surfaces, which allow the needles to free themselves and leave the fabric without pulling out the bers or injuring the threads of the fabric, owing to there being no projections outside the general longitudinal lines of the needle.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of an apparatus constructed according to my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same, being taken along the line l 2 in Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the improved needles used in the machine, and Fig. 4 a face view of the cam for imparting the lateral to and fro motionsto the needle-frame. The fabric A to be treated is wound upon a beam or roller,A,andpasses therefromthrough a tension device or brake, B, to a pair of rollers, C C', arranged in rear of and in proximity to the needling mechanism, hereinafter more particularly described. The tension deviceB consists of two rollers, D D', tted to rotate in a frame, a, mounted on an axle, E, journaled vin the frame of the machine, and having fast to one end thereof 'a worm-wheel,F,gearing with a worm, G, by means of which the worm-wheel F is revolved and the angle of the frame a varied according to the amount of tension required to be put on the fabric A. The wormwheel G is operated by a hand-wheel, G.

The 4bat of ber K to beincorporated with the fabric A is passed from a roller, H, to the rollers C C overa Creeper or endless band of battens I, the upper roller, C, being a compressingroller,pressing the ber upon the fabric A. The fabric A, in conjunction with` the bat of ber K, passes from between the roll ers C C over a grid-frame, L, where lche combined fabric and ber is operated upon by the needles N, one of which is shown on an enlarged scale in Fig. 3.- These needles are carried by a frame, M, to which a reciprocating up-and-down motion is given by means of ec` centrics O,fast on the driving-shaft P, causing the said needles to penetrate the fabric A and carry with them the ber from the bat K.`

In addition to the vertical reciprocating motion imparted to the needle-frame by the eccentrics O,the said needle-frame also receives,

by means of the three-throw ca-m Q (shown inplan, Fig/1) and lever R and link S, a to-and-fro lateral motion,whereby the needles are caused to move in different vertical planes to penetrate the bat and fabric. The cam Q is operated by a worm, z, on the driving-shaft P, in gear with a worm-wheel, y, fast on the camshaft w.

My improved needle is shown in elevation an'd cross-section in Fig. 3. It is illustrated as being triangular in cross-section, notches being cut out of the angular edges at intervals along the length of the needle or a portion thereof, so as to form equal ledges or recesses b, which,when the needles descend,engage the bers K and carry them through the fabric A, but which, as the' needles rise, disengage themselves from the ber, leavin g it projecting from the under side of the fabric, the needles freeing themselves and rising out of the fabric without-pulling out the bat or wool from the fabric or injuring the fabric. The bers are incorporated with the fabric by being acted upon by the needles, as described, while the fabric and bers are drawn along progressively, after which the fabric passes beneath a roller, T, and over a roller, U, thence to the take-up roller or work-beam V,upon whichit is wound, the ordinary take-up mechanism being employed to' rotate the beam V at the necessary speed required to wind the nished fabric as it' passes from the needling mechanism.

The roller U, by means of which the feeding of the fabric through the machine is effected and over which the nished fabric passes, is preferably covered with card-clothing, c, which takes hold of and eects the drawing along of the nished fabric evenly and progressively, and consequently without weakening the fabric. The roller U is operated to draw the fabric from the machine by means of a ratchet-wheel, l, on a shaft, 2, furnished with tooth -wheel 3, gearing with another wheel, 4, on the axis of the roller U. At each movement of the eccentrics O the pawls 5, carried on arms 6, are operated by the rod 7, and actuate the wheel l and move it partly around to move the roller.

To insure the uniform and simultaneous feeding of the fabric Aand the bat of ber K at the same speed as the nished fabric is drawnfrom the needling mechanism by the roller U, the creeper or endless band of battens I, by which the bat of ber is conducted to the needling mechanism, is driven by a band, Y, directly from a pulley on the shaft of the roller, on which the cloth on the workbeam V bears, the said shaft-pulley and roller 8 being driven at the same speed as the roller U by gearing fromthe axis 2, the gearing and driving parts being all so relatively arranged and proportioned that the feeding and withdrawing operations are simultaneously conducted at equal speeds without straining or sagging the material.

The distance to which the needles are caused to penetrate the fabric may be regulated as required by means of adjusting -screws W, operated by the hand-wheels X, whereby the bar M, to which the needles are fixed, is adjusted nearer to or farther from the gridframe L, through which the needles p ass in their descent through the fabric.

fn are rods or bars over the bat and fabric to retain them in place.

I am aware of the United States Patent No. 173,704, granted February 15, 1876, to M. D. Whipple, and of the patents therein referred to, and others relating to felting by the action of reciprocating needles. My present improvements on the pre-existing devices allow for feeding in the bat of wool or similar brous material with greater uniformity and without the risk of injury to the same, and I am able to adjust the parts of the machine and regulate the action of the felting-needles more perfectly than in machines before constructed. A t

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with the beam V and roller 8, and the mechanism for operating the same and drawing the woven fabric through the machine, of the endless belt Y, the belt of battens I, to feed the bat of ber, the rollers O C', through which both the hat of ber and the Woven fabric pass, the grid-frame L, rods n, and needles N, ,and needle-frame, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, with the beam V and roller 8, and the mechanism for operating the same and drawing the woven fabric through the machine, of the tension device having rollers D D', frame a, and worm wheels F yand Gr, the rollers C C', the roller T, and the roller U, covered with card-clothing c, the grid-frame, and needle-frame, substantially as and for the purposes specified.

3. 'Ihe combination, in a felting-machine, with the grid-frame L, driving-shaft P, cam O, needle-frame M, and needles N, of the connecting-arms between the cam O and frame M, the worm-wheels z y, shaft the cam Q, and lever R, and link S, for imparting to the needle frame and needles an up anddown and sidewise movement, Substantially edges, substantially as and for the purposes as speoied.

4. The combination, in a felting-machine, of the grid-frame' L and rods fand mech- 5 anism, substantially as specified, for moving the fabric, the frame M, and needles N, each needle being triangular in cross-section and pointed7 and having notches in the angular setforth.v

lSigned by me this 14th day of July, A. D. 1886.

JAMES BROADHEAD. Witnesses:

" JOSEPH BROADHEAD,

HENRY G. FREEMAN. 

